Krsna Kirtana Songs
est. 2001 www.kksongs.org
A Day in the Life of Krsna: A Musical
No musical system in the world ever contained a scientific
yet aesthetic aspect of music, with emotions, seasons, time, feeling, and mood
like Indian music. Even though Indian music has been created since the creation
of the Sama Veda, the foundations of the music has
lasted through the test of time. To this day, people
dedicate their lifetime studying the music of India.
Many musicologist devotees of Lord Krsna associate special ragas with every activity and
aspect within one single day of the Lord. A raga is not simply a scale. Unlike
a scale which has a set number of notes not truly positioned, the raga has a
defined position, as well as defined flows in upward and downward directions.
Even then, subtleties take place, such as flattening an already flattened note,
or shaking a particular note. These subtle features are what make Indian
classical music very fascinating, yet very difficult to understand.
In Indian classical music, there are eight prahars. Prahar is a region of
time within a day. Each prahar consists of three
hours each. Thus eight prahars equal the duration of
one day. The first prahar begins at 3 AM, just as the
last prahar within a day ends at 3 AM. Vaisnava musicologists classify prahars
based on the Lord's lila. Bhaktisiddharta Dasa is well
known for his project of linking lilas
to prahars, and thus linking ragas appropriate for
each time using a reasonable description.
The first prahar is known
as the Nisanta Lila. "Nisanta"
comes from "nisa" and "anta"
meaning "darkness" and "end", respectively. In effect, this
is indicating early signs of morning. The first prahar
begins at 3:00 AM and ends at 6:00 AM. Radha and Krsna are already sleeping, and Lalita
wakes Them up for Their union. Since Lalita wakes them up, Raga Lalita
is the principal raga sung. Raga Lalita has an
unusual structure, because it lacks P, and uses a chromatic application of two madhyams, which is otherwise forbidden in North Indian
classical music. This lack of a pancham symbolizes
that the sun has not arisen yet. In close examination of this raga, the purvanga of the raga represents the Purvi
behavior, which hints the evening hours; The uttaranga brings strong influence of Bhairava,
which is a morning raga. Raga Lalita is a link
between morning and night, even though it is not truly night nor
morning. The trend of ragas from 3 AM to 6 AM slightly change in nature, as the
Purvi feature of the raga is converting towards the Bhairava behavior. Raga Vibhasa
is usually used toward the later hours of the Nisanta
Lila, because the sun is beginning to rise. Before the sun rises, Radha and Krsna must return home
and sleep. Alas, Krsna! It's almost 6 AM. It is
almost morning, as the sun is about to rise.
After nisanta lila, comes Pratah
Lila or "Morning Pastimes." This takes place from 6 AM to 9 AM. It is
around this hour where Mother Yasoda wakes up young Krsna. To wake up the Lord, Raga Bhairava
is the most pleasing for the Lord. Raga Bhairava,
when it is played in its pure form, can truly cause one to imagine the sunrise,
and the start of a new day. The r and d receive an andolan
or a light shake, which results in an extra flattening of a tone. The shake and
extra flattening of these notes indicate the sun is beginning its attempt to
rise. An extra embellishment of the tonic is caused by embracing 'N. The
touching of 'N in the purvanga of the raga indicates Krsna opening His lotus eyes. Even when He is awake to Yasoda, He is remembering the beautiful pastime He felt not
too long along, and He misses that. This feeling by the Lord can explain why Bhairava bear feelings of a sunrise, love, yet a touch of
melancholy. Once He has arisen, He performs morning duties, such as taking a
bath. Mother Yasoda and father Nanda
Maharaja are so attached to Him that once He leaves for a mere bath, they
eagerly wait for His return. They cannot help but feel melancholy for such a
separation. Raga Gunakri shares this element.
Musically, it is an audav-audav jati,
lacking two notes in both directions. In this raga, m is a very weak note.
Therefore, P will touch m but will glissando down to r touching as many srutis downward and then land on S. This slide of notes
from P to S indicates a loss in heart. Likewise, the uttaranga
slide from P to S' indicates a crying out for the lost love, namely Krsna. Even going further to the next from sliding to r' and
maybe even reach m' or P' indicates an even more powerful yearning and cry.
Once it has reached the height of the cry, once cry cannot be heard and the all
of the notes just sliding down without stopping to S, which indicates that
their pleasure to their eyes won't come. Yet, they still call by following the chalan. Meanwhile, Lord Krsna
after taking His bath goes to enjoy the cows in Madhuvana
and plays the flute. Govinda's lila is depicted by Raga Ahir
Bhairava. This raga, unlike Bhairava,
takes on a slightly different mood. Ahir Bhairava takes on the perspective of happiness, pleasure,
and innocence. Young Krsna is innocently enjoying the
cows, while His parents are crying for Him! The m emphasis shows the pleasure.
The chalan towards G m r S 'D 'n r S indicates that
innocent charm. Even past the uttaranga into the purvanga of the new octave, the innocence and the pleasure
converge, which beautifies the feeling. After the Lord returns from His
adventure with his bath and cows, Mother Yasoda in
happiness prepares breakfast. Raga Asavari best
describes the pastime of Krsna eating breakfast. The
element of post-melancholy feelings of Mother Yasoda,
and the happy playfulness of the Lord is shown are converged in one raga. Even
after eating breakfast, the Lord leaves to play with His cowherd boyfriends.
Mother Yasoda, again, in separation, feels melancholy
of being separated and thus, Raga Asavari takes
another form when R changes to r. A serious mood occurs.
This serious mood is not only shared by Mother Yasoda alone. In fact, this feeling is also shared by the
cowherd boys, who are feeling sad in separation and eagerly waiting for Krsna to come. This introduces our third prahar called the Purvahna Lila,
or Forenoon pastimes, which occur from 9 AM to 12 PM. The feeing of the cowherd
boy is justified by Raga Todi. Raga Todi is the most appropriate unlike Raga Asavari with r. Raga Asavari had
more of the feminine characteristic with m. Cowherd boys are masculine in
nature, and their anxiety would adequately be represented by the use of M d N
S' excluding P in the aroha. In the avaroha direction, P is included. P gives the raga its
ground stability. However, P is very weak causing instability of the raga.
Lastly for that extra feature of desire, r is flattened more than Raga Bhairava's r. Thus, Raga Todi's characterstic purvanga region in
the avaroha line is r g r S. While experiencing this
feeling, Lord Krsna finally came! The next raga is
Raga Bhairavi. This raga, actually, can be used
anytime. In addition, there is so much freedom. Taking advantage of these two
thematic concepts, Raga Bhairavi has two different
messages. Raga Bhairavi for the cowherd boys are
performed using the original swar set and using the
true chalan. This indicates happiness of the cowherd
boys and Krsna when they meet. The gopis, however, are awakened, but they are missing Krsna very much. Why they do that, the gopis
feel very shy of this, and as a result, R, which is not included in the
original swar set, is used to indicate shyness. While
feeling shy, the gopis would dream of the pastimes
that could take place, indicated by G. M is not used very frequently in
performances, as it disturbs the aesthetics as well as the harmonics of the
raga. Thus, the presence of M in this raga indicates a tension or doubt. When
one gopi doubts, there will surely be another gopi convincing their Krsna will
come, by using D to indicate that there shouldn't be doubts and later using d
to confirm it that Krsna will in fact come.
Occasionally, N might be used to indicate the tear trop from the gopis eye either in happiness of the night, or in anxiety
due to separation. It all depends on how N is used. So Raga Bhairavi,
depending on which notes are played, can indicate happy feelings by the cowherd
boys or the anxiety and sad feelings by the gopis.
Even though Krsna is having fun with the cowherd
boys, He, too, feels a separation and is really missing His beloved, Radharani. He is playing and laughing on the outside, but
He is missing Radha in the inside. Raga Bhupali does full justice to this emotion. The lack of a madhyam or a nisada shows
dissatisfaction inside. Using suddha swars brightens the day, but the way R, G, and D, are used show attempts not to cry inside, and actual crying,
depending on how R, G, and D are connected. Even after the crying phase, P is
used to reassure Himself that He is able to hold it inside and feels He has the
ability to endure it. But the vadi of this raga is G
and samvadi is D. He'll try keeping these feelings
inside, but He'll have to cry and to reach a stable point, namely S or
appropriately landing on G. The cowherd boys must be yelling to Krsna. They call You, Kanha!
It is noon, where Madhyama
Lila, or Noon Pastimes, take place during the fourth prahar. It is 12 PM, and Lord and the cowherd boys are
playing and having a great time. This carefree joyful nature is indicated by
Raga Bilaval. This raga has the swara
set exactly as the Western major or natural scale. However, Western major scale
does not have any significance, as it is just notes clustered together. Raga Bilval at each point indicates a certain level of happiness
or joy. S can be viewed as the start of joy, reaching to G, its vadi, representing a pleasure. While this pleasure is on
strong force, the m and P indicates a radiance and sheer joy, as D N S' come to
stand for activity. This is not a straight-chained scale. Rather, this has a
specific chalan. The chalan
of this raga will link the activity of the cowherd boys and the joy and
pleasure felt. This is similar to a cause-effect relationship. While they are
playing, Radha's messenger comes along and notifies Krsna of Radha's desire to meet
with Him. Krsna in that playful mood also feels a bit
numbed. Whenever He hears "Radha", He feels
very much taken away in love. Krsna may control the
infinite galaxies and universes of creation, but Radha
is the only one that can control Him. This feeling of slight numbness can be
best shown by Raga Khammaj. Lord is playing the
cowherd boys, but He's feeling that numbness. The cowherd boys
is shown through the aroha use of N. But while
playing, He's feeling that hope to meet Her really
soon, which is indicated by the avaroha use of n.
Alas! Raga Khammaj has taken away the Lord so much, that He simply has to be with Radha
in broad daylight! That feeling is represented by the beautiful numbed Raga Madhyamad Saranga. "Madhyamad" means "based on afternoon." Saranga family of ragas comes in many forms. This
particular indicates the one shown for the afternoon. Here, m indicates a calm
relaxed feeling for Krsna, as well as calmed behavior
for Radha. The use of R and P indicate a desirable
tension. However with R, the tension releases once it touches S. P, on the
other hand, can reach up to n, showing how The Divine Couple reach the peak of
love. Unlike the regular n, this particular n is sharpened ever so slightly to
feel that urge to reach to the top. If it does, it doesn't stay too long, so it
must fall down, via the avaroha, and reach the bottom
S, the state of tranquility. The feeling may go upward to m, for another calm
relaxation, but it will fall again to S. Any uttaranga
feeling cannot happen in the afternoon. It's too bright outside and the gopis must be waiting for Radha,
just as the cowherd boys must be waiting for Krsna!
Alas, they part! Krsna reunites with the cowherd boys
and playing takes along with Raga Gaura Saranga. Unlike their happily shared Raga Bilaval, this raga, because of its chalan,
and the use of two madhyams, indicates playfulness
but a slight touch of upset and doubt. Why are they feeling this way? Could it be because the Lord them in separation? Maybe it is
because it's almost afternoon, and the Lord wishes to take an afternoon nap,
and thus the appropriate use of two madhyams.
The fifth prahar begins
with Aparahna Lila, or with afternoon pastimes. It is
slightly later than 3 PM, and the Lord awakes from His rest. Since its
afternoon, slightly on the verge of sunset, it is time to take the cows back to
their home. The Lord does this, and the feeling of the cows adequately is
portrayed through Raga Sri. Within daylight hours, this is the first use of a Purvi that raga within the daylight hours. Purvi that ragas
usually indicate that it is evening. The slightly off-key r with its
strong attachment to P causes a slight harmonic imbalance, as vadi and samvadi should either be
fourths of fifths. In relation to r, P is an augmented fourth which can leave
an empty feeling. Since cows are naturally attracted to Krsna,
and since He is leaving, that empty feeling is naturally felt by the cows. Yet,
cows are very devoted animals too. Thus, the strength at P and N, especially
the M added with their critical roles in aroha,
indicate how cows are devoted. The avaroha and the
glissando from P to r, back to P to r, and then G r S, indicate melancholy.
After departing the cows, Radharani's messanger comes to notify Krsna
that She is eagerly waiting for the night. As Krsna is eagerly waiting too, He gets happy with joy. Just
as two sheddings of tears does not necessarily
indicate sadness, two types of joy does not
necessarily indicate the same style. This joy is best shown by Raga Bhimphalasi of the Kafi That.
This raga is very difficult to explain, because performing this raga is pretty
difficult. The chalan is very unusual and is beyond
the scope of the lila. Once
must hear Bhimphalasi to even imagine how Krsna must feel. Krsna must
return home, as it almost time to go. Whenever Krsna
walks, everything gets enchanted by the grace of Raga Abhogi.
This raga also hints that it is near evening, yet Krsna
is playing walking enchanting everything and everyone He sees on His way home.
But Balarama, Mother Yasoda,
and Nanda Maharaja eagerly wait for His return. This shown by Raga Multani. They
aren't depressed, but they are just very anxious in love for His return. Thus,
d shows that tenderness, and stability via the strength of P shows that they
aren't suffering. Lastly, r is only used in the descent, but r is unbelievably
flattened and is close to S that the unskilled ear will not hear the difference,
but indeed there is. But that very rare touching of r
indicates tenderness yet a little sad. But Krsna
has finally returned. It is 6 PM.
The sun is about to set, it is 6 PM, and thus the
beginning of the sixth prahar known as the Sayam Lila or evening pastimes. Purvi
and Marwa Thats are
dominant here. Before we focus on Krsna does, we see
that Radha is with Her gopi associates and they discuss about the night which is
not too far away. Radha is the embodiment of the
Lord's love. As Srila Jiva Goswami sings and as Vallabhacarya
confirms, "krsna prema mayi radha."
Radha along with Her gopi associates starts remembering their beloved Krsna. This evokes Raga Pilu.
Raga Pilu is a very romantic raga and very
interesting one, since it has many grace notes. The original swara set is that of Kafi's
except the nishad is suddha
rather than komal. This is the feeling of romance Radha has in Her heart. But the gopis imagine too, and bring other emotions like anxiety,
grief, impatience, doubt, which carries over to Radha. While Radha is feeling the
original chalan of the swara
set used in Raga Pilu, the gopis'
thought are shown by the grace notes or vivadis which
changes the mood ever so slightly. Yet this slight change of mood does not
destroy the intended story of this raga. As Radha is
happily envisioning this upcoming night of love, Krsna
is back at home with His parents doing evening prayers in Raga Puriya Dhanasri. This raga has
some melancholic nature, but overall it is that of a devotional nature. The S
and P have strength in this raga, although the G and N have a special
relationship. Overall, S, G, and P indicate a devotional nature. N and G represents a real yearning. P would hold stability its final
stability, as this is the last raga before the sun is really starting to set.
However, G with d shows a modest and prayerful mood. After prayers are over
three sets of people are follow three ragas of the Marwa
That. Each of these three ragas have the same swara set, but all three follow entirely different chalans. Lord Krsna is feeling
Raga Marwa. Raga Marwa is
perhaps the most unstable and has has the most
harmonic imbalance compared to any raga. There is no P, which indicates that
the sun has set, but in His heart, someone is missing. The inner anxiety felt
by the Lord is shown by skipping over S, as S is very weak. When r is slightly
sharpened, it is the vadi while D is the samvadi. S can only latch onto D, but even D sounds a bit
out of it. This raga has that feeling of Raga Bhupali,
since Raga Bhupali has a hidden tan in there. As the
Lord is feeling such anxiety through Raga Marwa, Raga
Puriya is felt by the cowherd boys. They miss Krsna very much and hope to meet Him the next day to play.
It is not as harmonically imbalanced as Marwa since G
and N, being vadi and samvadi
respectively, are perfect fifths or sadaja-pancham bhava. Their hidden tan is that of Raga Madhyamad
Saranga, although their desire is more to play with Krsna as friends, rather than romantic lovers. The cowherd
boys, as much as they are loving friends of Krsna,
are very tricky. Thus, this trickiness is shown by skipping the S, like Raga Marwa. Lastly, the feeling of the gopis
is Raga Sohini. Sohini,
like Puriya, has harmonic stability due to the G and
D being the vadi and samvadi,
respectively. Unlike the two previous ragas, Sohini
does not skip S. Rather it skips r in aroha and
includes it in the avaroha. Because of this, the
hidden tan in this raga s that of Raga Sivaranjani,
which both imply a feeling of a love-lorn Krsna. Since the gopis miss Krsna so much, they will call out a love lorn cry. But what can they do? The gopis
cannot come to Krsna's house and say, "Hey Krsna! Come with us!" And Krsna
cannot leave the house when brother and parents are still awake. The anguish
from the hearts of the gopis come
especially when r is used with mixing back to S. The "Marwa matrix", because the Lord and his two favorite
groups of people, namely cowherd boys and the gopis,
best illustrates the latter half of this prahar.
It's almost 9 PM. Time for more praying.
The seventh prahar or the Pradosa Lila or nightly pastimes is all about family
praying. Kalyan That ragas such as Chaya Nat, Kalyan, Kedar and Yaman are sung, which
all pretty much indicate devotion. Raga Yaman is
especially sentimental to the Lord, since Raga Yaman
is the very raga sung and created by the Yamuna
River, Herself. Her raga is sung when Vasudeva is
going from Mathura to Nandagaon
to give Krsna to Nanda
Maharaja. In addition, His midnight pastimes occurs near the Yamuna River. Hearing such a raga will remind Him of that
very experience He will feel in the deeper night. After a whole night of
devotional songs, bhajans and kirtans,
it's time to go to sleep. It's roughly around 11 PM, and Lord is wishing His
parents and His dear brother a good night, before He goes to sleep. Raga Khammaja shows the pleasing beautiful nature of the Lord. Krsna is smiling, but in His heart, He is very excited as
it is only moments away before He will be with the gopis
and even more, with His beloved Radha. This feeling
of happy anxiety and wait is shown by the use of n. The house is quiet, and Krsna is sound asleep. Or is he?
The start of the midnight pastimes or Naisa Lila begins. The Lord leaves His home and Raga Darbari Kanhada sings of this.
Even though Raga Darbari Kanhada
is a raga invented by Tansen Miyan
in the fifteenth century, this raga beautifully describes the Lord leaving
home. Andolan is found on g and d, but an extra
flattened g indicates the happy feeling of the Lord yet filled with passion. In
fact, g and d are never even played, but a super sharpened R reaching the
weakest g and super sharpened P reaching to the weakest d is used. This special
technique causes g and d to be vadi and samvadi. Even as impatient feelings conquer the Lord, Raga Adana, using Madhyamad Sarang's aroha and Darbari Kanhada's avaroha is sung. Unlike Darbari Kanhada, Raga Adana does not have
andolan on any swar,
because the Lord is so eager. The mood suddenly shifts as He enters the forest
and Raga Bagesri of the Kafi
That takes over. The Lord's maneuvering through the forests of Vrndavana is shown by the dominance in m and occasional
touch of P. After the sixth prahar, anxiety
diminished as prayers took place in the seventh prahar,
and love takes place in this prahar. Finally, after
crossing the forest with Bagesri's melody. He finally
comes to see his beloved Radha and His dearest gopis. This feeling of sheer excitement is dominated by
Raga Jaya Jayawanti. Like
Raga Pilu, this has many grace notes. Unlike Raga Pilu, the grace notes support the original notes of the
raga and thus support the mood of sheer joy amongst everyone. The show for the
Divine Couple has begun! The gopis start singing many
songs and give many jokes to entertain the Divine Couple. They sing songs of the
Kafi That. This is why many bhajans
of Radha Krsna are sung in
any raga of the Kafi That. Finally, joking and
giggling and laughing come to a halt. Gopis now sing
Raga Malkauns for permission to take part in the Rasa
dance. Raga Malkauns is a devotional raga which is
usually sung when requesting permission or asking a favor from the Lord. Even
when doing that much, glorification of the Lord takes place with this powerful
raga. The greatest force of power comes from m which means peace and S meaning
happy attainment. This raga was actually used by Parvati
to calm Lord Siva down from his anger. With this fervent prayer, Lord Krsna, ironically refuses. He asks the gopis
to leave back home. The gopis feelings of enduring
hope and sadness has been justified by none other than Raga Bihag.
The use of two madhyams nonchromatically
indicate melancholy and the slight pinch of D, embracing N and P describe the
feeling of possible happiness and the strengthening of N assures Krsna that this is not a joke. The Lord finally accepts and
thus the Rasa dance starts, In the first half of the dance is sung in Raga Vrndavani Sarang and Dipak to enflame the feelings in the heart. The dance
continues in sweetness while hearts are flamed with passion and love, since
each gopi wants Krsna. The
second dance cools those hearts, when Krsna
replicates Himself into many forms and Raga Megha is
sung. Raga Megha is when the Rasa dance gets very
intense. The hearts are cooled down with the Love of the Krsna.
Megha has the same swar set
as Madhyamad Sarang, but it
is now past midnight, and everyone is dancing. Radha
and Krsna are in the center and They can freely
express Themselves without worry. R is the vadi and P
is the samvadi. The n is flattened than Madhayamad Sarang. The
combination of R, P, and n forms a special feeling of thunder and rain. R will
receive a special andolan that will link to S. This
will indicate the following of rain water calming the results of Raga Dipak being sung.
The last hour of the prahar
is the most upsetting, as Krsna and Radha must separate. Raga Kalingada
of the Bhairava That adequately explains this
feeling. They express Their enjoyment They just had and just an environment of
love. Often, Basant Mukhri
is used considering n is used instead of N. Even Raga Bairagi,
the song of renunciation, can express how Radha and Krsna are seeing each other but leaving. They retire to
their homes ans sleep. It is not long until Lalita comes to wake Them up. Thus a new day starts.
UPDATED: July 10, 2009